Extraordinary 1885 booklet containing 81 pages of 19th Century fielding and baserunning tips (followed by several pages of ads for Spalding sporting goods) listing Henry Chadwick as author. The ten-cent book contains some line illustrations depicting proper positioning and fielding posture. Overall in FAIR condition due to wear at the edges corners and spine along with some minor staining to the cover (and an owner stamp on one of the interior pages) the book remains an indespensible piece of 19th Century baseball history. Take for example the instructions for a first baseman: "A good first base player ought to be able to hold a ball from the field if it comes in anywhere within a radius of six feet from the base and in case of high thrown balls he ought to take them at least eight feet high from the base. He must remember that the ball must be held by him - with some part of his person touching the base at the same time - before the striker reaches it or the latter is not out; if the ball is held at the same time the base runner is not out."It is incredible to realize just how much the game was still in its infancy in 1885 and how the most rudimentary rules needed to be so clearly and explicitly spelled out in the name of the "art of base ball fielding."